I’m not making this stuff up. There’s an entire body of Feminist research and theory that I’m basing this on.

Matriarchy is a positive, egalitarian system. Matriarchy is not just "patriarchy in a skirt". It's not about women dominating and mistreating men. This is not the place to indulge your “FemDom” fantasies - they are the stuff of Science Fiction and unfortunate sexual imprints.

Matriarchy's values and goals include:

1) Nature is a Mother. The Goddess is “immanent” She is not everywhere, She is everything. The universe is a macrocosm of the Earth which is a macrocosm of us. Woman is a microcosm of Her and She is alive. We are born of Her and return to Her, but we are never apart from Her because we are part of Her.

2) Sensuality and sexuality are important values People of all genders enjoy sexual and reproductive autonomy. Children are born of their mothers, therefore the mother retains the primary decision-making power. Inheritance is established by familial relationship in practice more than in blood. The Father role is often carried out by a “Social Father”- usually the Mother’s brother - rather than the biological father. Homosexuality and Bisexuality are seen as normal variations.

3) Power belongs to the people Matriarchy functions under Tribal values. When the tribe prospers, everyone does. No one starves unless the tribe as a whole is starving. Individual wealth accrues only after basic survival needs are accomodated. The group decides as a whole how best to use its resources.

4) Consensus Rule Pure democratic rule tempered with reason and equal opportunity. Negotiation is preferred to dominance. Peace and cooperation are idealized. All members have an equal vote and are therefore equally represented.

5) Diversity Matriarchy recognizes that strength lies in diversity. Different races, cultures, positions, beliefs are respected as individual choice. Individuality and creativity is preferred to conformity. Deity encompasses feminine as well as masculine principles. All sexual behavior among adults is accepted.

6) Equality No gender, race, class, or group exercises power over any other, nor is there a preference for or superiority of any group assumed in political, practical or social functions of the culture. Women are not seen as “ruling” men, but rather the social structure follows the female line.

Yes, Matriarchy is a distant dream. American culture isn't quite as strictly Patriarchal as it once was, but if you look at our current political situation, you'll see that it still vastly favors Men, Wealth, State and Church. We are on our way back to the 18th century if we don’t stop the patriarchal backlash directed at women’s rights.
I believe that restoring woman’s place in the world is essential to our progress.

1)The primary goal is to establish a patrilineal system of inheritance. This means that it is absolutely essential to control women's sexuality. Virgintiy becomes a virtue. Sex is a commodity. Marriage is a state of ownership. Sex is specifically for procreation. Adultery is/was punishable by death. (We never hear of Men in Africa being in danger of being stoned to death, do we?) Sexuality is expressed as ownership or violence. Sensuality is denigrated as "sinful"or as weakness. Feminine qualities and symbols are made inferior, occult or evil. Homosexuality is despised, and people are incorrectly taught that it is “unnatural” in spite of the fact that it does occur throughout nature.

2)Power over others. A few people at the top of a hierarchy control the masses, whether it's a King, a dictator, a priesthood. They will often claim to be ordained by “God” to rule or to save the people who serve them. The claim of “Divine Right” means that they are never questioned and are above law. The ruling class is supported by the labor of the people, who are enslaved, exploited or taxed. Women and children are generally bought and sold as sources of labor and/or sex.

3)Might equals Right. The ruling class controls the people with threats of violence in the form of an Army, a police force, etc. Military values take precedence over humanitarian principles. Conformity is enforced with violence. Anyone or anything defined as the “other” is demonized and made to seem less than human to justify torture, rape and murder of “heretics” or “the enemy”.

4) Monotheism.There is one Male God and all other gods are Myth and must be destroyed. There is no feminine principle in deity, therefore women are not permitted to work within the priesthood. The male is believed to be made in “God’s” image. The divine origin of the male gives them authority over women, animals and nature. Women are allowed little autonomy due to their inferiority: they don't hold positions of power, own property, make sexual or reproductive choices, have basic rights of privacy, expression, or legal representation. They are viewed as chattel by the law rather than as persons with rights and individual will.
God is conceived as separate from nature. This is the “watch-maker God”, siting alone in his workshop, building a world for his amusement. The world itself is a thing to be conquered by man.

5) Primogeniture. Male children are preferred to females. Wealth passes from Father to Son, as does name- children have their father's name. Children are seen as possessions. The woman takes her husband’s name when she becomes his property and not her father's. Women may be killed if they are unfaithful, or are raped.

We have been living in Patriarchy in one form or another for approximately 5,000 years. In my opinion, that's 5,000 years of an unnatural social order. It's going to take a long time to even the playing field.

In a previous post I criticized a young writer for beginning an article about feminism by rudely dismissing the the concept of Matriarchy and disparaging those of us who advocate it. Here are his exact words:

'Rational feminists strive only for the equality of women, nothing more, and certainly nothing less. There are fanatics and zealots who would replace the patriarchy with a matriarchy, but every group of people has a whack-job fringe. Do we judge all Christians by the actions of Fred Phelps or Jerry Falwell?"

My inference from this is that Ryan considers me to be “irrational” and that I am a fanatic, zealot and a member of the “whack-job fringe” because I would, indeed, prefer a Matriarchal system to the current Patriarchy. My reply was that his attitude constituted bigotry, and posed the following question:

It's an egalitarian, life-affirming system that values peace and justice; promotes fairness and Green values; and opposes racism, sexism, colonialism and all forms of slavery or oppression. Exactly which of those values makes me a fanatic, zealot or whack job?

He never answered my question, but he did send a response:

Hi Morgaine,
This is Ryan Fette. If you are surprised that this "bigoted statement" made it into a college newspaper, you should read some of the other editorials that have made their way into the opinion page.
I'm also rather shocked that someone who follows such an "egalitarian, life-affirming system that values peace and justice; promotes fairness and Green values and opposes racism sexism, colonialism and all forms of slavery or oppression" would be so quick to attack another person who is trying-and I might add that it is a very difficult feat in the state of Nebraska-to create a world similar to the one that your own Women's Religion is striving towards.
My definition of matriarchy is a political system in which women have power over men and members of other gender groups. Power over is the enemy of equality. I see matriarchy equally as dangerous as patriarchy. Anytime an individual or culture comes to the conclusion that one gender is better than the others, the inequality begins. The correct answer is to remove the need for one gender to be superior to the others.
Furthermore, I work in the Women's Center at UNL. I fight for the rights of women everyday. I direct women to information about their reproductive health, help them to find recourse in cases of discrimination, and help survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence find the legal and psychological recsources they need to put their lives back together.
I'm also a Wiccan and as such I worship a very female Goddess as well as a very masculine God.
May the New Year find you well,
Ryan Fette

I don’t want to treat his indignation lightly. In fact, I applaud his attempts to defend himself as a feminist. While I don’t know him personally, he does open the door for a discussion of what I see as the major problem of the Wiccan community. It’s a great blessing that he works to help women who have been victimized. I just want him to understand the forces behind that violence so he can fight it rather than unconsciously reinforce it. I demand more of him because he’s Wiccan, not less.

First, he tells me he’s not as bad as some of the others. That’s a shoddy defense for any behavior. Then he says he is shocked that I attacked him. No, I objected to being called a zealot, extremist, etc. and challenged his statement. Comparing me to Jerry Falwell is not going to get you on my good side. Ryan initiated the attack in an attempt to convince his readers that he was “normal” in a way Matriarchists are not. He also says I should give him a break because he’s in Nebraska and he wants a world similar to the one I am striving towards. Being in Eastern Kentucky, I am not insensitive to the special problems of dealing with rural populations. As for the similarity of our goals, we’ll see about that as I continue.

He then gives me “his” definition of matriarchy. What he gives is not, in fact, a definition of matriarchy but rather the lies put forth by patriarchal sources to tap into men’s primal fear of feminine power. It’s the stuff of Science Fiction and the Old Testament and has nothing to do with Archeology or Feminist Theory. I don’t care how many dictionaries one cites. Dictionaries and text books are produced by the Dominant Culture. Academia is a patriarchal institution. I will not allow the patriarchy to dictate my speech, nor will I choose to define myself by labels that were formed without our consent - at a time when we were, and are, an "occupied" people.

My definition of Matriarchy is derived from a lifetime of studying the works of Feminist Scholars- Mary Daly, Elizabeth Gould Davis, Merlin Stone, Eileen Morgan, Barbara G. Walker, Z. Budapest and Starhawk. It is what I believe from my research to be a reflection of true matriarchal values. Ryan is a product of the dominant culture and through no fault of his own has not been educated to distinguish between the two concepts. The only images of Matriarchy we get in this culture are sci-fi movies with evil women oppressing men*. Sorry, but oppression and violence aren't necessary unless you've got a "might makes right" ethic that allows you to enslave other peoples and cultures. This is not about domination. It’s about biology.

He goes directly into the language of domination and opposition. Again, that’s a patriarchal construct. I don’t believe in “opposite” sexes. I believe in the first sex/gender, which is “female”, and a younger sex/gender derived from it which is “male”. This is not an either/or situation. There are more than two genders in our natures - hence the “T” in “LGBT”. Polarity is an artificial construct that has Witches running around espousing “equality” as if that has anything to do with nature. Fairness and equality are political ideals that I support, but they are abstractions that have little to do with reality. Too often they imply “sameness” and we simply aren’t the same. They are concepts I want in my government, but I don’t look for them in the natural world. Nature never works in even numbers or nice neat formulas. (No, I don’t consider Mandelbrott Fractal Geometry nice and neat though it is formula.) The “balance” that seekers run around trying to achieve is stasis. It stagnates. It’s death. Life is messy. It ebbs and flows. It has rhythm and pattern that varies in myriad wonderful ways. She is alive, not a cold, dead machine.

His final line is the most disturbing to me: “I'm also a Wiccan and as such I worship a very female Goddess as well as a very masculine God. ”

The question is, do you worship an effeminate God, and a butch Goddess as well? Are you stuck in the typical “Wild father/Bona Dea” trap that far too many Wiccans fall into? Is your pantheon reinforcing gender role stereotypes? The God and the Goddess in Wicca are NEVER equal, nor should be the High Priestess and High Priest. The Goddess comes first, and everything is born of Her. The Lord is Her consort, Her lover, Her brother or Her son, but he is never Her equal or Her superior. In Wicca, as in life, The first “couple” is a mother and a child, not a man and a woman. Have you ever invoked a Sun Goddess? A Moon God? Do you ever speak to our Mother alone? or do you require a “chaperone” with horns?

I am adamantly opposed to the PC cop-out that deity is male and female in equal portion. Look at Nature, which always favors her own gender. Why should the Divine be any less feminine than the living world?

*With the notable exception of one modern Outer Limits episode I described here

NOTE: I'm posting this for my birthday, 3/3. It was written before the 2004 election.- ms

Why I won't Apologize for Calling Bush a Fascist

...not that anyone has asked me to

If you haven't read Fascism Anyone? by Laurence W. Britt, follow that link and do it now. You need to know this information in this election. I'm going to take the 14 points delineated by Britt and put them in perspective here. Remember, these are his points. The commentary is mine.

If there were one point here that didn't apply to this administration, I'd back down. Now check this out:

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.

Since the attacks of the world trade center, there has been an attempt to control any form of dissent, or criticism of the Administration. Expressions of pride in being an American have taken on an almost militant form, expressed in pervasive displays of flags and pro-American themes in popular music and television.

"The Bush administration's objective of establishing U.S. domination over any potential adversary led to the hubristic, tragic miscalculation of the Iraq war, a painful adventure marked by one disaster after another based on one mistaken assumption after another." Al Gore

2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.

There ought to be limits to freedom.
-- George W. Bush

"People have to watch what they say and watch what they do." - Ari Fleisher, White House spokesman 9/26/01*

Since 9/11, people who are suspected of having ties to terrorism have been held indefinitely without access to counsel, courts, and are considered by the Administration to be exempt from the protections of the Geneva Convention. In spite of a recent court decision finding that the detainees do have rights of Habeus Corpus, the Administration has expressed that it has no intention of complying with the order of the court.

The Patriot Act has effectively suspended several protections guaranteed by the Constitution. Authorities may search anyone, at any time without probable cause. They can enter and search your home without notifying you. Communications can be monitored in unprecedented ways without a warrant.

No longer a leader in the fight for human rights around the world, America has been shown committing war crimes in Guantanamo Bay, Abu Grahib, and other locations throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. Photographic and video evidence has been withheld and suppressed by the media and the government. Items leaked through the press show prisoners being sexually violated and there is a number of unexplained deaths. Sy Hersch, the reporter fro the New Yorker who broke the story, has stated that there is video of boys being sodomized. Over 100 children are currently imprisoned at Abu Grahib. The Red Cross has been denied access to prisoners, and the Administration is now known to be keeping undocumented prisoners. Reports are that most of the people being held at Abu Grahib were detained in error. The abuses have been dismissed by Right Wing media personalities as nothing more than "fraternity pranks". A few low level soldiers are being court martialed in an attempt to portray the abuses as the work of a few poorly trained recruits. Documentation exists showing White House attorneys attempted to create a legal argument to justify the torturing of suspected terrorists well before the incidents at Abu Grahib, with full knowledge of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the White House.

Protest is now allowed only in established "Free Speech Zones." Those wishing to attend political rallies with the President or Vice President are required to sign a pledge to support their ticket in the upcoming election, and provide contact information and identification. The campaign reportedly asked a reporter's race before agreeing to issue credentials to cover one event. People have been removed from events for wearing or carrying t-shirts bearing pro-choice and other messages deemed "unsupportive" by the campaign.

3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.

"They are all "enemies of civilization," [Bush] said, and they share "a fanatical political ideology.1"

Frequent, nondescript terror warnings are common, usually timed to benefit the Bush Administration's polling numbers, or deflect attention from positive news of his opponent, Senator John Kerry. Former Governor Howard Dean has recently called public attention to the pattern.

4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.

"I'm a war president." -- G.W. Bush

The US invaded iraq in spite pleas from the UN Inspectors who wanted to continue inspections, which found no evidence of WMD's.
George Tenet of the CIA stated that there was no reason to suspect Iraq had WMD's. Bush told the American public that Saddam Hussein was an immanent threat, in spite of information to the contrary. An historical, world-wide peace march of 10 million people protesting the US invasion of iraq was dismissed by Bush as a "focus group".

Despite mounting evidence that Bush never completed his obligation to the National Guard, Bush is fond of appearing in front of military audiences. He donned a flight suit when he stood in front of a banner reading "Mission Accomplished" on the USS Lincoln and announced success in the Iraqi invasion. As of right now, 930 American soldiers have died since that announcement.

5. Rampant sexism.

Bush has been stacking the courts with reactionary judges known to believe that women should be subservient and abortion is murder. When blocked by Congress, Bush has gone so far as to appoint an extreme Right Wing Judge by executive order when congress had recessed.

The Right Wing's hatred of competent women is evident in their treatment of Hillary Clinton, Martha Stewart and Teresa Heinz Kerry.

Britt's words:

Beyond the simple fact that the political elite and the national culture were male-dominated, these regimes inevitably viewed women as second-class citizens. They were adamantly anti-abortion and also homophobic. These attitudes were usually codified in Draconian laws that enjoyed strong support by the orthodox religion of the country, thus lending the regime cover for its abuses.

Bush's support for an amendment to prohibit same sex marriages instigated the first Senate debates on an amendment that would formally limit the "full faith and credit" protections of 10 per cent of American citizens. Several extreme presentations by Senators likened homosexuality to bestiality, and literally prognosticated the end of civilization as we know it if gays were permitted to marry.

6. A controlled mass media.

Fox News, anyone? By the way, you can buy OutFoxed for under 10 Dollars from Amazon.com.

"Gore said media who challenge Bush and Cheney's claims of a link are intimidated by the administration.

"The administration works closely with a network of rapid-response digital Brown Shirts who work to pressure reporters and their editors for undermining support for our troops," Gore said. The term "Brown Shirts" refers to Nazi supporters in the 1930s and '40s." Al Gore

October 25, 2003—US Senator Robert Byrd, on the floor of Congress, on October 17, has explicitly compared the Bush media operation to that run by Herman Goering, mastermind of the Nazi putsch against the German people.

Why does the Bush administration lie so much? It is mainly because Bush's Svengali-like political adviser, Karl Rove, has taken to heart the advice of Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." When Lying Pays Off: The Fabrications of the Neo-Cons

7. Obsession with national security.

After 9/11, the government was reorganized around a new Department of Homeland Security, which has so far only served to provide vague warnings of terrorist plots when Bush's poll numbers drop. Bush constantly sates that he has made us safer, but that we are not safe.

8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.

Britt's words:

Unlike communist regimes, the fascist and protofascist regimes were never proclaimed as godless by their opponents. In fact, most of the regimes attached themselves to the predominant religion of the country and chose to portray themselves as militant defenders of that religion. The fact that the ruling elite’s behavior was incompatible with the precepts of the religion was generally swept under the rug. Propaganda kept up the illusion that the ruling elites were defenders of the faith and opponents of the “godless.” A perception was manufactured that opposing the power elite was tantamount to an attack on religion.

Bush's words:

"I've heard the call. I believe God wants me to run for president.2"

"God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East.3"

"And this is my solemn pledge: I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity. I know this is in our reach because we are guided by a power larger than ourselves who creates us equal in His image.4"

"Our job as leaders--Republicans, Democrats, nonaffiliateds--is to rally that compassion of America, is to call upon the love that exists not because of government, that exists because of a gracious and loving God."
AP story in LA Times, Aug 4, 2000 5"

"I also have this belief, strong belief, that freedom is not this country's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty's gift to every man and woman in this world. And as the greatest power on the face of the Earth, we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom.6"

“I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job.7"

Bush appealed to the Pope for help in getting American Bishops to support his agenda. The Bush/Cheney campaign has solicited churches to provide their member directories to the campaign. it is widely believed that there is a movement of Christian extremists who believe Bush was installed in office by none other than the Almighty.

"Why is this man in the White House? The majority of Americans did not vote for him. He's in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this."

"I knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real god and his was an idol,"

"the principalities of darkness. . . a demonic presence in that city that God revealed to me as the enemy".

9. Power of corporations protected.

Halliburton. Media Consolidation. Gutted environmental protections. Rolling back regulations on media consolidation. Creating a Health Care benefit that only benefits the drug companies. Record tax breaks for the wealthy.
Secret Energy Policy meetings and a complete refusal to open the records on it.

10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.

While Bush's economic policies have targeted the wages and security of working people, his union-busting efforts have tried to undermine the one tool we have available to protect ourselves - our unions.

Bush used rhetoric of "national security" to pursue the anti-union agenda he supported prior to the events of September 11th. In fact, Bush claimed that workers who wanted to preserve their collective bargaining right were opposed to national security and might be supporting terrorist efforts.

11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.

"There were many beautiful books, but as they contained nothing but superstitions and falsehoods of the Devil, we burnt them." - Diego de LANDA, Bishop of Yucatan

"Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings." - Heinrich HEINE, German poet (1797-1856) Used as inscription on memorial at Dachau concentration camp.

Disney was afraid to distribute Fahrenheit 9/11; Michael Eisner said he feared Disney would lose tax breaks for its amusement park in Florida, where the President's brother, Jeb Bush, is Governor.

Linda Ronstadt was ejected from the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas for dedicating a song to Michael Moore;

The Dixie Chicks saw their recordings burned(!) after apologizing for Bush at a concert in England; American radio stations kow towed to a boycott of their music pushed by Right Wing activists.

The publisher for Michael Moore's book Stupid White Men delayed its publication and wanted to shred existing copies the book for its criticism of Bush- it was saved only when American Librarians heard of the plan and mounted an internet campaign in its defense.

An Art dealer in California was driven out of business for displaying a painting that depicted the torture at Abu Grahib.

Media giantClear Channel fired shock-jock Howard Stern for obscenity, though Stern maintains it was because he criticized the Bush Administration.

Whoopi Goldberg was fired from her job promoting SlimFast after a Right Wing uproar resulted from a joke she made about Bush's surname at a Democratic Fundraiser.

The FCC lost its mind when Janet Jackson's nipple was accidentally exposed during half-time at the Super Bowl and sprang into action with attempts to intensify network censorship.

the Union of Concerned Scientists... has announced that more than four thousand scientists have now signed their February statement on scientific integrity--including 48 Nobel Laureates. The group also just released anew report showing that the Bush administration has blithely continued to do what it was originally accused of: Egregiously politicizing science.

Attorney General John Ashcroft recently attempted to have government manuals containing information on forfeiture procedures removed from public access.

I wanted to show the totals for civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq - neither of whom had any history of aggression against America, and who's ruling regimes at the time of our invasion - the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, respectively- had previously been installed and funded by the United States. Subsequent investigations have shown that their was no connection between Iraq and 9/11. Afghanistan has now become a breeding ground for al Quaeda terrorism, and the Taliban is mounting attacks against women who register to vote. Apparently, few statistics are kept on civilian casualties and they are so highly disputed that most agencies don't want to release them.

13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.

Halliburton. Kenny-boy Lay and Enron. 'Nuff said.

Then, of course, their are the family ties to consider:

For 60 years it has been a matter of public record that Prescott Bush helped finance Hitler's rise to power and world war. Later a US Senator from Connecticut, Prescott was father to President George H.W. Bushand grandfather to George W. Bush. Because legal action was taken, Bush's deeds have been a matter of public record since 1942. They were widely covered in newspapers and electronic media at the time. The history is readily accessible8

After the seizures in late 1942 of five U.S. enterprises he managed on behalf of Nazi industrialist Fritz Thyssen, Prescott Bush, the grandfather of President George W. Bush, failed to divest himself of more than a dozen "enemy national" relationships that continued until as late as 1951, newly-discovered U.S. government documents reveal.

Furthermore, the records show that Bush and his colleagues routinely attempted to conceal their activities from government investigators.9

Similar denials have surrounded Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is a matter of public record that his father volunteered for the Austrian Nazi Party and the infamous SA, which engaged in brutal mass murder. Arnold himself has attempted to distance himself from his family's Nazi past. He has made large donations to the Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, which has tracked Nazi fugitives. His backers now claim he attended an anti-Nazi rally at an early age.

On the other hand, he has been linked to statements admiring Hitler for his speaking ability and his ability to gain a huge following. A past indicating a strong authoritarian nature has also been cause for alarm. In 1975, Schwarzenegger yearned for his own Nazi-style rally, "like Hitler in the Nuremberg stadium. And have all those people scream at you and just being [in] total agreement whatever you say."
***-[Karl]Rove is quoted in Bob Woodward's best-selling BUSH AT WAR as comparing the reaction of a New York Yankee crowd to an appearance by Bush as being "like a nazi rally."8

There have been rumors about Rove's family having built Birchenau, and information that Cheney, Wolfowitz and others in the Pentagon have ties to a particular brand of French fascism, but I can't find what I consider to be a reliable source for those. If it's out there, I'm confident someone will find it. For now, I have enough documentation of its roots, and we have all seen the pattern of consistent abuses of power.

14. Fraudulent elections.

Do you really want me to get started on that coup d'etat in 2000? As of right now, Black Box Voting.org says that up to 30% of the votes in the upcoming presidential elections are not verifiable and cannot be recounted if the machines fail or are subject to tampering.

The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."10

“In a way that occurred before but is rare in the United States…somebody came to power as a result of the illegitimate acts of a legitimate institution that had the right to put somebody in power.That is what the Supreme Court did in Bush versus Gore. It put somebody in power,” said Guido Calabresi, a judge on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which sits in Manhattan.

“The king of Italy had the right to put Mussolini in, though he had not won an election, and make him prime minister. That is what happened when Hindenburg put Hitler in. I am not suggesting for a moment that Bush is Hitler. I want to be clear on that, but it is a situation which is extremely unusual,” the judge said.

“When somebody has come in that way, they sometimes have tried not to exercise much power. In this case, like Mussolini, [Bush] has exercised extraordinary power. He has exercised power, claimed power for himself; that has not occurred since Franklin Roosevelt who, after all, was elected big and who did some of the same things with respect to assertions of power in times of crisis that this president is doing,” he said. 11

That's 14 out of 14. If it looks like a duck.... I know that the Anti-Defamation League has been consistent in asking that images of Hitler not be used in political campaign because they feel that to do so does not honor the victims of the holocaust. Under normal circumstances, I would agree that such imagery should be off limits. Having watched the consistent assault on American values perpetrated by this Administration, however, I am paying particular attention to anything that seems to extend the pattern. Michelle Malkin's new book, In Defense of Internment: The Case for "Racial Profiling" in World War II and the War on Terror, has alarm bells going off.

In Defense of Internment provides a radical departure from the predominant literature of civil liberties absolutism. It offers a defense of the most reviled wartime policies in American history: the evacuation, relocation, and internment of people of Japanese descent during World War II (three separate actions which are commonly lumped under the umbrella term “internment”). My book is also a defense of racial, ethnic, religious, and nationality profiling (widely differing measures that are commonly lumped under the umbrella term “racial profiling”) now being taken or contemplated during today’s War on Terror.

I was compelled to write this book after watching ethnic activists, historians, and politicians repeatedly play the World War II internment card after the September 11 attacks. The Bush Administration’s critics have equated every reasonable measure to interrogate, track, detain, and deport potential terrorists with the “racist” and “unjustified” World War II internment policies of President Roosevelt. To make amends for this “shameful blot” on our history, both Japanese-American and Arab/Muslim-American activists argue against any and all uses of race, ethnicity, nationality, and religion in shaping current homeland security policies. Misguided guilt about the past continues to hamper our ability to prevent future terrorist attacks. - -Michelle Malkin

How kind of Ms. Malkin to offer herself up as a "token torturer".(If the "oppressor" can get members of the oppressed group to do the wet work, they resent the "torturer", and thus themselves, rather than the original author of the oppression.) She's a very attractive advocate for Racism, uh, I mean, Racial Profiling. How can we criticize a "reasonable" action by the Bush administration to protect the country from the ever-present threat of terrorism when such a lovely woman says it's a good thing? Calling it Bigotry, or Xenophobia would be downright unAmerican. From there, it's a short step to locking up certain people of color - beginning with Muslims, of course- for their own protection. What the hell- we already have 2 Million people in prison for mostly non-violent crimes. Nobody that matters will miss a few followers of Islam, now will they?

It hasn't happened yet. Just remember - it DID happen before, and it happened HERE. It happened in Germany to the Jews, some of whom live right here, right now. If we truly want to honor them, we need to recognize the signs when we see them. 14 out of 14 is 14 too many for an American Presidency.

How to talk to a Christian -

Why should a rational person use religious symbolism? For the same reason an American ought to learn Spanish. It makes it easier to communicate with someone who doesn't speak your language.

But do we really need religion? That's a subject for long debate, but my opinion is "yes". I love religion. I'm not crazy about the things people use religion for, but that doesn't mean that religion itself is bad. It just means that people who don't question authority are easily manipulated by governments and religious hierarchies. I actually believe that some form of belief system is better than no belief system at all. It gives the world context, and makes it easier to navigate. I believe we crave it psychologically. It gives people hope, and comfort, and it can bring out our best qualities: mercy, compassion, joy. Some people use science in the same way others use religion, to give structure to their perceptions of the world. There are times when that approach can be just as harmful as religion. Science is great, but it doesn't have all the answers, and thinking that it does can cause a lot of problems. Global warming, for example. But that's a different subject. I personally believe that science and religion have to be congruent, and mine are. That's a different subject, too - I've written about it in my discussion of the Bright Movement titled "Looking toward a Bright Future" posted at The-Goddess.org.

The question is, how do you talk to someone who believes "God" spoke blank verse Middle English and wants you to stone your neighbors for working on the sabbath? Well, first, you don't laugh at their religion. Second, you realize that you need to know what their religion is, and study it. Then you speak to them in their own language. It makes them comfortable, it shows that you take their religion seriously and there are more points in our favor in the Bible than in theirs.

For example:

Matthew

Chapter 5:
Verse:
3 Blessed are the poorin spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers:for they shall be called the children of God.

NOTE: No mention that "blessed are the war mongers" nor does it suggest, as Falwell put it, that we should "blow them away in the name of the Lord".

Chapter 19:
Verse:
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor,and thou shalt have treasure in heaven:
and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him,
and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more,
when I come again, I will repay thee.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him,
Go, and do thou likewise.

Chapter 14:
Verse
13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee:for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

John

Chapter 8:
Verse
7 He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
32 And ye shall know the truth,and the truth shall make you free.

James

Chapter 2:
Verse
4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
6But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

The teachings of Jesus repeatedly emphasized caring for the poor and the sick. The Republican agenda has done just the opposite. It has benefitted the wealthiest among us, at the expense of the middle class and the poor. They are trying to wipe out social programs not controlled by the church. This is very dangerous for several reasons. First, class warfare can get ugly. Think French Revolution. Second, part of the reason we're in this mess is that our public school systems are failing. People don't understand that we are not a Christian nation; that, in fact, our government was deliberately designedto prevent a theocracy from taking over. Children who are home schooled or raised in parochial school will never learn this from those sources that we count on to create good citizens. Why are Christian Schools and Universities accredited when we know at least part of their curriculum is false?How are people going to develop higher levels of moral and intellectual thought if their misconceptions are never challenged?

There are times when you have to shake someone's faith a little to get them to consider that other ideas might be as valid as theirs. I hate doing that, but if someone is ready to kill or be killed for faith, I'm going to question it. In the end, all we have is conjecture. If you must use logic, know your subject. When people try to recruit me, I point out that I'm not Pagan because I haven't studied Christianity, I'm Pagan because I have studied it and found it full of contradictions and philosophies I don't believe. For example, I will sometimes ask a person why they aren't a Buddhist. How do they know Jesus was the Savior? They never met him. The people who wrote the New Testament did so after his death, and some of them never knew him. Who told you Jesus was the Savior? How would they know? Do you trust that person or authority that much? Who says it's the word of God? How do you know the "Saints" weren't just a bunch of tribal hash smokers seeing "God" in the smoke. Maybe the Bible is what happens when a Nomadic people encounter UFO's. Have they read Chariot of the Gods? Why not? If a guy who looks like the blonde hunky Jesus in your Bible showed up at the door, would you invite him in or call the police? What if he looked like an actual Middle Eastern Jew, with dark hair, skin and eyes? Would he be welcomed in your house? Would his twelve companions? I doubt it. I doubt I'deven be welcome if my religion were known, and I'm perfectly charming- ha ha.

Most of the tenets of Christian Legalism have nothing to do with actual scripture. Few of the most rabid legalists have actually read the Bible and even fewer have the education to understand it. What about the Apocrypha? Why did Catholic priests have the authority to leave books out of the original Bible? Are you going to believe the Dead Sea Scrolls, or the interpretation written by Shakespeareand a few others, who were under orders of a King and a Pope to alter certain passages to their liking? I have an uncle who says that the Holy Spirit worked through all of them so that the King James Version is the "literal word of God". How far is logic going to go with someone like that?

You can also point out that Jesus said:I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.[Matthew 15:24]

Gentiles weren't included in his teachings until after the death of Jesus.

So does his work apply to them or can only Jews be saved?

Why should you trust the word of someone who never knew Jesus to contradict "his own words"?

Do you use Rosaries? Jesus said:"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do:for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." [Matthew 6:7]

Rosaries are Pagan in origin. The beads are the petals of a rose, which is a symbol for the labia of the Goddess.

Are you a Christian or a Pagan if you pray the Rosary?

If Jesus didn't approve, why are Christians doing it?

Why did Bush appeal to the Pope for help when most evangelicals think Catholics are Pagans?

Why did Catholics support Bush when the Pope said Bush might be the AntiChrist*?

Doesn't anyone believe what the Pope says anymore?

Why do Christians not object when Bushtells us a lie?

As I've said, though, logic will only get us so far. We have to address fear, include hope, and make sense. That's not easy. We are looking at the task of re-educating an adult electorate on our most basic American values. Short of buying ad.s on the Super Bowl, I don't know how we'll do it on the scale needed.